I Gave You Lots of Presents (But You Left Me In the Past)

March 30, 2009 1:38 AM

A tale of love long lost. If you're going to try and buy happiness, remember to keep the receipt. Autoharp, vocals, and a little bit of honky-tonk toy piano.

This arose from a songwriting exercise where you look around you and quickly write song titles based on whatever is lying around. For instance, I'm in the dining room right now, and I see a mug, a telephone, a piano, a ceiling light/fan, and a cat. Okay, so going as fast as I can and thinking as little as possible, I make up the song titles: "I Love Your Mug," "1-800-THIS-SONG," "88 Keys That Don't Open Anything," "Blow Out the Light," and "Hey, That's My Cat." Obviously, most song titles you get this way will suck. But every now and then you'll get a good one; one that never would have otherwise occurred to you.

It must have been around Christmas or someone's birthday when I came up with this one.

Technical details: Let's see. There's Autoharp with a split signal panned, unevenly, L-R. Toy piano. Synth bass (Alesis Micron). Combination of real and fake drums (the snare is real; the kick is fake; the cymbals, I think, might be both). One lead vocal and a couple of backups; the backups were recorded bit by bit as I figured parts out. I think that's it; it's a pretty simple song.

I could never afford those diamond rings, but I bought you lots of other things, like the puppy that was blind in one eye and never really housebroken, and like the scratch-off that could've made you a millionaire, like the scarf that I thought went with your hair -- was I wrong to think we had a bond that was so strong but unspoken? I gave you lots of presents, but you left me in the past.

I bought us dinner and late night snacks like chicken strips in plastic sacks that came with dipping sauces: some had ranch and some had pesto. And I wrote this song for you with the same three chords I always use, but the words are something different, it’s a deep and heartfelt manifesto. I gave you lots of presents, but you left me in the past.

There’s a building called the Taj Mahal -- Persian carpets wall-to-wall! -- if I picked that up for you, would you say, "hey, big spender"? I should mail myself to your address gift-wrapped and shipped by UPS; maybe then you’d finally choose to return to sender. I gave you lots of presents, but you left me in the past.posted by Karlos the Jackal at 1:41 AM on
March 30, 2009

I've been almost completely absent from Music this month, but I'm really glad I listened to this. I really, really like it; it's got a great feel. (And I like the silly songwriting exercise, too.)posted by uncleozzy at 5:36 AM on
March 30, 2009

This is just the sort of stuff I love at MeFiMu: honestly quirky, quirkily honest. I mean, where else could I hear a song that mentions "chicken strips in plastic sacks"?posted by roombythelake at 7:39 AM on
March 30, 2009

Yeah, this has a great bounce to it, and I love the background vocals.posted by umbú at 10:01 AM on
March 30, 2009

I can't remember what was your position the day some of us were discussing in a thread about the sort of feedback we expected (or didn't like), but since you are pretty open and sincere when you comment, I'll assume you expect the same. I love the song, but the piano that plays in the right channel kinda distracts me a little bit. It feels as if that piano part wasn't as defined as it could have when you recorded it and it would have benefited from some rehearsing before the recording.

These are pretty brave words from someone who is always posting unfinished demos, I know, I only say it because I do like the song a lot.

And I really like the drums you chose for this one. Very different from the sound of drums you tend to use, and it reminds me a bit of the early Cafe Tacuba, which I quite like.

Finally, there is some problem with NoScript and googleapis.com that won't let me favorite stuff anymore, but if I could have, I would have favorited this song.posted by micayetoca at 2:28 PM on
March 30, 2009

the snare is real; the kick is fake; the cymbals, I think, might be both

I couldn't help but laugh reading that, I'm kinda confused how you think it might be both. Aside from that this was really catchy, nice vocal work. You kinda sound like.....I'm not even going to say it this time.posted by BrnP84 at 9:29 PM on
March 30, 2009

I am back from vacation! Hi!

I mean, where else could I hear a song that mentions "chicken strips in plastic sacks"?

This is one of my favorite lines to sing -- it's fun!

I'll assume you expect the same.

Yes, of course!

It feels as if that piano part wasn't as defined as it could have when you recorded it

Interesting! Do you feel this way about the whole piano part, or is it just here and there? Overall, I really like the piano part; there are a couple of wonky notes that I left in, but for the most part it sounds the way I intended it to, at least -- I like the loosey-goosiness.

Very different from the sound of drums you tend to use

Yeah, I think it's the first time I've put up something here where I'm actually playing an actual snare (with brushes, even).

rehearsing

Never! *shakes fist defiantly*

I'm kinda confused how you think it might be both.

Heh. Well, I know that the original drum machine part had some cymbals. I probably left them in when I went through and pulled out the snare (but I'm not totally sure). I sometimes play real cymbals over drum machine tracks (Broken Heart, for instance, has some cymbals that are part of the drum machine track, and some that are overdubbed later), and I think I did that here (but I'm not totally sure). So there are probably both sounds in there, somewhere, but lazy record keeping combined with a slovenly work pace (this particular recording of this song has been "in progress" for a year or two) combined with quantity of songs (there's usually a dozen songs that I go back and forth between at any given time) means that I often lose track of what I've done. I have limited tracks, so the rhythm stuff got submixed down, and then I promptly forgot what was in there.

Do you feel this way about the whole piano part, or is it just here and there?

Mostly during the first half of the song. And more than wonky notes, I meant the timing, it keeps coming in like half a millisecond behind what I would consider natural. What makes me feel it wasn't intentional is that starting from the "there's a building called the taj mahal" part it plays "normally", so I guess it was a matter of getting into it while playing it.

I really like the song, though, and I really like those drums. Those big sonorous drums fit your style very well. And I know I am the king of sloppy recording, so don't take it as criticism, but rather as good natured comment from someone who really liked the song.posted by micayetoca at 7:13 AM on
April 11, 2009

What makes me feel it wasn't intentional is that starting from the "there's a building called the taj mahal" part it plays "normally", so I guess it was a matter of getting into it while playing it.

Well, it goes to show that you shouldn't be paying attention to what I say. I gotta admit also that when I came back to respond to your question the "issue" didn't "bother" me as much. I guess I should be a bit more cautious when writing opinions, or listen to the songs a couple of times before commenting.

I do like the song a lot, though and I really like those drums you used. Have I mentioned this before?posted by micayetoca at 6:11 PM on
April 12, 2009

Well, it goes to show that you shouldn't be paying attention to what I say.

No, no, I mean that it's probably more likely that these two parts are played slightly differently, being recorded so far apart, and you caught that when I hadn't. Kudos!
I really like those drums you used. Have I mentioned this before?

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